Joe, you ignorant slut! I'm going to have to respectfully disagree here.

As a patriot and lover of freedom I salute my distinguished colleague from Massachusetts for his willingness to make use of his hard won freedom of speech. Moreover, I salute his courage in taking advantage of another great freedom: the freedom to be wrong. Really wrong. And to exercise that freedom loudly and publicly. Well done, sir! :-)

Seriously, though, I don't get the charge of pretentiousness. Because he has good diction? Because his tone is pure? Because he hits notes directly and eschews melisma? I'm somewhat of a cultural primitive and generally dislike highly trained voices. I don't know enough about music to appreciate the technique; I'm unfamiliar with the opera and art song traditions and find it hard to distinguish between "good" and "bad" singers in those types of music; and I usually find the use of those techniques in popular or folk music (each term broadly taken) makes for a really stiff performance. But I don't hear that with Bleckmann. To my ears he isn't stiff, he doesn't show off (on the CD, can't speak for the live show), and he's very expressive.

Technique per se is neither good nor bad, just a set of tools. The problem with the Berklee guys isn't that they're chops monsters, it's that the vast majority of them have nothing to say, and they try to hide that by blowing chops (or in the worst cases think that blowing chops IS something to say.) On the other hand, lack of chops isn't a sign of authenticity or some such rot. There are plenty of greats who have an extremely limited set of vocal or instrumental chops, but it's their other strengths that make them great, not because they know two chords, can't keep time, and have a half octave range, only half of which they can hit with any consistency. None of that is a badge of honor -- although none of it is something to be ashamed of. What does matter is figuring out what you want to do and developing the skills to reach that goal. For many years Thelonious Monk was criticized for his herky jerky style and lack of fluidity, often being dismissed with a snide, "He can't play." But as one of his early, perceptive critics remarked on the subject, (I paraphrase) Monk doesn't have the technique of a Horowitz, but I'm not certain that Horowitz's technique is up to the music of Thelonious Monk.

Sorry you didn't like it, Jon. But we both liked Blueberry Boat, right?

I've got a sweet tooth for pop music already, so I love the Beach Boys early boppy hits too. In the book we give the BBs a strong focus because they are one of the three groups (Kim and I felt) that became the locus of early rock fandom critical writing (as opposed to professional rock crit writing of that time). As Kim described it, there is the popular Beach Boys of Endless Summer and golden California pop songs, and then there's the cult Beach Boys of Manson association, Brian's meltdown, Smile bootlegs, Eugene Landy cult weirdness, Murray Wilson tapes and the sublime beauty/utter weirdness of their early 70s works.

The other two groups (we thought) that had strong rock fandom cults in the beginning were the Kinks and the Raspberries.

But if you can't get over the prettiness of the Beach Boys - if that seems trite or foofy to you - then Smile surely won't be convert you either.

But if you can't get over the prettiness of the Beach Boys - if that seems trite or foofy to you - then Smile surely won't be convert you either.

Well, it's no "Surfin' Safari," though. SMiLE is 100% cornfed American psychedelic weirdo shit. If it were a TV show, it would be on cable access. If it were a movie, it would be John Ford directing Un Chien Andalou. If it were a book, it would be Louis L'Amour meets Donald Barthelme. If it were a painting, it would be Duchamp's take on Norman Rockwell. It's the Republican-looking late-50s white guy down the street who secretly drops a lot of acid and fills his basement with his own wacked outsider-art sculptures.

I don't know if it'll change anyone's mind about the Beach Boys, but it is easily the most likely item of Brian Wilsonalia that could change the indie rock kids' minds.

I'm looking forward to picking up Mr. Wilson's opus.

I did, however, already pick up the new REM. I had low expectations, having read several rather bad reviews. It's better than I was expecting based on that and it's already growing on me, but ... I don't know. I guess I'm still having a problem wrapping my mind around the fact that REM are a different band now.

That said, there's only one song that I really loathe on the album. "Wanderlust," I think it's called. A tune that aims for bouncy lightheartedness and comes across as forced is really an awful thing. Yuck.

Michael Stipe's voice keeps getting better with age, but his yelps of "Me! Me! Me! Me!" or "Yeaaaah yeaaaaah" in another song are incredibly grating.

A tune that aims for bouncy lightheartedness and comes across as forced is really an awful thing. Yuck.

It's too shiny and happy?

To my ears he isn't stiff, he doesn't show off (on the CD, can't speak for the live show), and he's very expressive.

That's just it. I don't hear expressive. I hear cold and distant. It's an artistic choice that, to these ears, wears thin very quickly.

Blueberry Boat! I don't think I've mentioned here that I got to see the Fiery Furnaces twice over the last month and they have been amazing live!

The first time, they were the headliners and only stopped for breath three or four times during the 75 minute set. They took apart the various sections of their songs and not only reordered them, but also rearranged them musically. Oftentimes, until the singing started, and unless you knew the words, you'd find the songs unrecognizable from their recorded versions. They played as a four-piece, with the guitarist and bassist doubling on keyboards and samplers. The singer and drummer (who was ferocious) rounded things out. The overall feel was much more "rock" and frantic than the CDs.

The second time, they were opening for Wilco (who were great) and so only played for 40 minutes. That time, they didn't pause even once. It was exhilarating.

paging joe boucher

Kim Cooper just sent this to me:

Am I correct in assuming that you would like to read and review Helter Skelter's “Chic and The Politics of Disco” by Daryl Easlea for Scram?

I said I'd give you first dibs on it.

I don't think I've mentioned here that I got to see the Fiery Furnaces twice over the last month and they have been amazing live!

Yeah, I love their medley approach. Fluxblog has a great discussion of one of their sets, one that culminates in comparing Eleanor with Evil Willow, here. And here's Eleanor's setlist from a mid-September show.

Thanks, David, but it's all yours. I love Chic (and call dibs on Real People if there's a LITG, Vol. 2), but I was a straight, white, completely-unaware-of-cocaine pre-teen growing up in cow country during disco's heyday; my insights into the politics of disco, and Chic's place therein, are... what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah, "worthless." If it wasn't in the top 40 it didn't reach my ears.

I can't tell you how happy I am that the reference to Evil Willow is accompanied by a link to "Doppelgangland," not the S6 incarnation. Season 6... <shudders violently>

I've been led to understand that I would like S6 much more now with some distance from it, but I haven't yet tested this theory.

Hey, are you going to the EDO show tonight?